Is Air Pollution the Catalyst for Diabetes and Obesity?

By Jaydipta Robson Mukherjee

Do you know that more than 80 percent of the entire global population residing in the urban areas are badly exposed to some kind of pollution; of which air pollution grabs the maximum attention? Air pollution is primarily responsible for insalubrious physical conditions.

According to the research conducted by in the PubMed and Web of Science in the year 2007, it was stated that there is a strong relationship between body weight change and air pollution. As per the recent studies, almost 15000 new patients are coming up with type 2 diabetes in Britain due to air pollution.

Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University said, "Air pollution is a major driver of illness and should not be ignored." Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person is not able to produce sufficient insulin. It is the hormone that permits the cells to absorb the glucose content into the blood. At times, it happens that the produced insulin is also not working properly.

Obesity and diabetes are two major health problems that ultimately triggers a lot of serious health issues like blindness, kidney damage, nerves and blood vessels damage etc.

According to the experts, it is necessary to use masks while going out and meeting air pollution. In many situations, you may feel the absence of air pollution, but deep inside the presence hampers the normal health conditions. Drink a lot of water so that the toxins flow out of your body on regular basis. Include green vegetables, healthy foods with vitamins, fiber and protein content so that the immune system gets developed.

"Given the number of people living in heavily polluted areas, this suggests that even a small reduction in air pollution may have an impact on numbers of people developing Type 2 diabetes", said Dr. Emily Burns, Head of Research Communications at Diabetes UK.